I got this piece from my group mail and though to share it with you all, it makes for impressive reading and really thought provoking. please enjoy.

Going through the school of character learning is expedient for every man. It is not enough to say that I have character and integrity. How can you know if you really have character if your character has not been tested or tried?
It is so easy for us to say we have character when there are wealth, affluence, and good things of life all around us: seven square meals per day, beautiful clothes to adorn our bodies, exotic cars to cruise around, access to qualitative health care facilities and good education for us and our children, periodic vacations around the world and sophisticated gadgets to hype our esteem and make us feel good.
You may have forgotten the smell or the taste of the peculiarities of the life of the underprivileged world or you may never have probably tasted or smelt it, hunger, lack, embarrassment or ridicule from landlord for delayed payment of house rents, drop out from school for inability to pay tuition fees, suffered the humiliation of watching your parents or family neglected in the hospital for lack of funds for medical bills, countless days without meals, the list is endless.
It’s important for us to know and acknowledge that this is the reality of some people daily yet they have not thrown in the towel and they still keeping holding onto faith.

Some or many of us have never really experienced these realities so how can we teach tenacity, determination, faith, self-discipline, commitment, forgiveness and love.

Sometimes God allows our character to be tested through the fiery furnace of hunger, rejection, disappointment, delay, depression, humiliation, and loss so we can come out strong and our character refined so we can actually tell life stories that inspire and teach lessons of life.

Let’s teach our children realities of life. Life is not a bed of roses. It’s important for them to know that there is the other side of life which though they may not be exposed to but it’s the realities of others.

Let’s tell them about love, compassion, forgiveness, gentleness, generosity, kindness, responsibility, respect, thankfulness, justice, righteousness, honesty etc. We can teach them characteristics of these character traits.

Your money won’t matter after a while but the traits and values you have entrenched in them. These values will speak for them and those are the things that will define them as they grow.